Pennsylvania House race: 5 former House Republicans say don't support Rep Scott Perry

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Five former House Republicans penned a letter on Monday urging voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania not to re-elect Republican Rep. Scott Perry. 

Former Republican Reps. Barbara Comstock, of Virginia, Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois, Denver Riggleman, of Virginia, Dave Trott, of Michigan, and Joe Walsh, of Illinois, told fellow Republicans that "they know how difficult it is to vote for a member of the other political party," but to join them in supporting Perry’s Democratic challenger, Janelle Stelson. Among other concerns, the five mostly condemned Perry’s "brazen self-interest" and "involvement in the plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election." 

Pennsylvania’s 10th District has been represented by Perry, the former chair and current member of the House Freedom Caucus, since 2013. Perry is the only sitting member of Congress whose cellphone was seized by the FBI in its investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and that has also become a theme in television ads. The race between him and Stelson recently moved from leaning Republican to a toss up, according to the Fox News Power Rankings. 

"After playing a direct role in the effort to nullify the will of Pennsylvania’s voters, Perry had his cell phone seized by the FBI and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal defense fees," the letter says. "Former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson testified under oath that Perry requested a presidential pardon for his actions in the leadup to the deadly January 6th insurrection."

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Rep. Scott Perry speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

The five former House Republicans go on to say Perry’s "lack of remorse for his actions is a slap in the face to every public servant who has made the United States the greatest country in the world. Our nation deserves better than someone who was so easily willing to break his sworn oath to the Constitution for political expediency." 

"At this moment of great consequence in American history, we need leaders who will tell the truth and be willing to work in a bipartisan fashion no matter what party to deliver for Americans," they wrote, according to the letter obtained by Axios. "Janelle Stelson is the candidate in this race who will do just that. Janelle was a Republican for most of her life and she is running on a mainstream platform of cutting taxes for the middle class, securing the border, lowering the cost of living, adhering to the Constitution, and supporting democracy and fair elections." 

Perry's district has favored Republicans since it was redrawn in 2018, and Trump won it by four percentage points in 2020, according to The Associated Press. 

Janelle Stelson, Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania's 10th District, talks with patrons at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Stelson is challenging Rep. Scott Perry for the seat. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Now, as Perry runs for a seventh term, he faces a vigorous challenge. 

Stelson, a former TV news anchor and former Republican, has raised over $1 million more than Perry, forcing top House Republicans to come to his aid as they try to hold their narrow majority. Democrats have outspent Republicans in the race so far, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign ad spending. They have spent more than $7 million as of last week, compared to more than $4 million spent by Republicans.

Rep. Scott Perry speaks during a news conference on FISA reauthorization at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 13, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In shifting the contest between Perry and Stelson more toward the Democrat earlier this month, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report surmised that while the "political environment should still favor Perry, his unique vulnerabilities, coupled with Democrats’ spending advantage, moves this race from Lean Republican to Toss Up." 

The letter from the former GOP lawmakers claims Stelson "will work with Republicans and Democrats to find common ground," while Perry "is consistently rated as one of the least bipartisan members of Congress" and "is routinely the only member of the Pennsylvania delegation – Republican or Democrat – to oppose common sense measures that would improve the lives of his constituents, including legislation to protect firefighters and crack down on human trafficking." They claim Perry "also turned his back on our brave veterans by being the only Republican or Democrat in the Pennsylvania delegation to vote against legislation to house homeless veterans. He also opposed the bipartisan PACT Act, the largest expansion of VA benefits in history, which provided healthcare and compensation to servicemembers who suffered from toxic burn pit exposure."

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"These are the men and women who risked – and in many cases, gave – their lives to defend our freedom," the five former House Republicans said. 

Fox News’ Remy Numa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.